Mckinney to Get Relief from Traffic Congestion

McKinney to get relief from traffic congestion By Brandi Hart, McKinney Courier-Gazette November 8, 2007

McKinney residents should see some much-needed traffic congestion relief as $65.5 million worth of road projects was approved Tuesday in the county transportation bond election.

The city of McKinney and Collin County will equally pay for the expansion of Custer Road, Lake Forest Drive, Wilmeth Road, Farm-to-Market Road 1461, Airport Drive, and Virginia Parkway west of Custer Road, and the construction of Bloomdale Road and the four-lane FM 543 connector route.

Lake Forest Drive/FM 1461

Lake Forest Drive will be widened from two to four lanes from in front of McKinney Boyd High School to U.S. 380 to help ease traffic congestion along the road for a nearby subdivision and students and faculty of the school. Construction should begin on the road in the second quarter of 2008 and a traffic light will be placed in front of the school, said Rich Larkins, transportation manager for the city.

“Lake Forest Drive is on the city’s thoroughfare plan and we need to widen it because we’re seeing an increase in cars near McKinney Boyd High School. The majority of the traffic is coming from the neighborhood that is west of McKinney Boyd High School,” Larkins said.

The city is hoping to be completed with the expansion of the area of the road, which lies between Eldorado Parkway and Virginia Parkway, in August 2008, Larkins said. The city and county are planning to use $1.4 million of bond money to expand FM 1461 north of U.S. 380, which is 3.2 miles from two lanes to four lanes from County Road 127 to CR 166.

The reconstruction of Lake Forest Drive, which is also FM 1461, from U.S. 380 to Wilmeth Road will also be completed next year for a total of $5.8 million. The road will be widened from two to four lanes and will help accommodate people who live in multiple subdivisions in the area and people who visit Myers Park, formerly called Collin County Youth Park, which is on FM 1461 just north of CR 166 and is maintained by Collin County, and Erwin Park, which is maintained by the city of McKinney.

The road expansion will also help accommodate people who wish to visit the hospital that the Baylor Health Care System is planning to break ground on next summer. The hospital will have 12 stories and 98 beds, and will initially include a seven-story patient tower at the northwest corner of FM 1461 and U.S. 380. The city also annexed 3.61 acres on the west side of FM 1461 and 2,323 feet north of U.S. 380, also known as Farleyville, at the Tuesday regular bi-monthly council meeting as it prepares to work on acquiring right of way along the road. Custer Road

Custer Road will be widened from two to six lanes from Stonebridge Drive to U.S. 380 for a total of $5 million. Construction on the road should begin in 2008 and be completed in 2010, Larkins said.

The road expansion is needed because of the constant traffic from U.S. 380 along Custer Road to Stonebridge Drive, which is estimated to have 106,302 cars driving along it daily in 2030. People use the road to enter numerous residential neighborhoods, both in McKinney and some of which are in Frisco, and shopping centers along Custer Road, including the Wal-Mart shopping center at the southwest corner of U.S. 380 and Custer Road. A retail development is also being constructed at the southeast corner of U.S. 380 and Custer Road, across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter, where numerous retail stores and a bank will be built.

The city will also pay $2.5 million for right of way acquisition of Custer Road from U.S. 380 to FM 1461. Both McKinney and the town of Prosper have requested annexation of land along Custer Road north of U.S. 380, Larkins said. The city of McKinney and the county will both spend $2.5 million to widen the three miles of roadway from U.S. 380 to FM 1461 from two to four lanes because of the growth in that area of McKinney, Larkins said.

“Based on the housing market, there are a large number of houses that are slated to be built in that area,” Larkins said.

Custer Road, from State Highway 121 to Stonebridge Drive will also be completed in 2011 and will cost a total of $5 million, which the county and city will equally split.

Custer Road from SH 121 to Stonebridge Drive is estimated to have 162,024 cars traveling across it in 2030, Larkins said.

FM 543 connector

The city and county will also spend $19 million to build the four-lane FM 543 connector north of U.S. 380, between FM 1461 and U.S. 75 to help alleviate east to west bound traffic from U.S. 380 and areas north of U.S. 380. The city’s nearest east to west arterial is U.S. 380, which will be expanded at U.S. 75 in 2008.

The city and county will each spend $1 million for engineering and right of way acquisition for the FM 543 connector from SH 5 to Airport Drive. The road should create mobility for new residential and business developments and relieve traffic congestion on existing streets, Larkins said. The road should have 120 feet of right of way, will have a speed limit of 45 mph, and should have four lanes when it is built and six lanes in the future. The FM 543 connector route from FM 1461 to U.S. 75 should have 52,267 cars driving on it daily in 2030, according to Larkins.

That part of the FM 543 connector route should be completed in 2011 and should have 55,940 cars driving on it per day in 2030. The city council recently discussed the technically preferred alignment for the road and has not taken any action on which alignment it prefers.

The alignment study project is nearing completion and it is still not fully funded. The city would have to have full funding before the city could begin the design, said John Kessel, executive director of the city’s Development Services Division.

On a project like this, it will be a one- to three-year design, depending on if it is a Texas Department of Transportation process, or just a city process. The city would start acquiring right of way after the design is completed, in two to three years or more, Kessel said.

The city also has updates about the FM 543 connector meetings that have been conducted since last spring, such as the two public input meetings and items discussed by the council on the city’s Web site, www.mckinneytexas.org.

Bloomdale Road

Another road project included in the bond proposal is the reconstruction of Bloomdale Road from U.S. 75 to Pecan Ridge for $3 million. Construction on the four-lane road should begin in the first quarter of 2008 and be completed sometime in the third quarter of 2009.

The city chose to place the road on the county bond proposal because it will provide an additional entrance and exit to Naomi Press Elementary School, which is located east of U.S. 75. The road expansion also helps the Blockbuster Distribution Center north of Wilmeth Road and east of U.S. 75, Larkins said. Blockbuster asked the city to expand Bloomdale Road to provide better access from U.S. 75 north of U.S. 380, he said.

Airport Drive

In 2009, the reconstruction of Airport Drive from Industrial Boulevard to U.S. 380 should be ongoing. The road will be expanded from two to four lanes for a total cost of $2 million, which will also provide another way people can access U.S. 75, from Airport Drive to SH 5, either to exit onto SH 121 or U.S. 75, while construction is ongoing at the U.S. 380 and U.S. 75 intersection, which should end in 2008.

“When we first did the Airport Drive project two years ago, we just built two lanes. We’ve seen a lot of folks use Airport Drive as a bypass to U.S. 380. We were looking for a way for folks to be able to avoid the U.S. 380 and U.S. 75 intersection when construction begins on the expansion of U.S. 380 next year, which is going to be a two- year project,” Larkins said.

Virginia Parkway

Virginia Parkway will be widened from two to four lanes west of Custer Road, from Independent Parkway to Aero Country Road. The cost of the road expansion will be $2 million. The expansion is needed due to the surge of homes being constructed and because Frisco ISD is building new schools in the area, Larkins said.

“There are a lot of home tracts that are being developed in the area and the Frisco ISD is building a lot of schools in the area. A new fire station will also be built south of Virginia Parkway and the road expansion will help emergency responses that will come from the new fire station,” Larkins said.

SH 5, or McDonald Street, will also be expanded from two to four lanes from U.S. 380 to FM 543 in 2010, for a total cost of $2 million to help traffic congestion in areas of McKinney north of U.S. 380.

Contact staff writer Brandi Hart at [email protected]. To post comments online, access this story at www.scntx.com.